The invention relates generally to moveable structural members for supporting pliable sheets of material, and more particularly, to moveable battens for use in roller-furling sails.
The use of battens, rigid or semi-rigid members, is known in sail making as a technique for supporting sail shape. Battens may be used, for example, to support the pliable fabric of a mainsail in a roach that extends well beyond the straight line formed between the head and the clew of a sail. Although battens can significantly improve sail shape, they create an impediment to certain sail stowing techniques, such as roller furling.
When roller furling is employed, a sail is furled and unfurled by wrapping the sail about a rotating member, such as a foil, that may be rotatably mounted about a forestay for a jib or genoa, or contained within a mast for a mainsail. Rotation of the rotating member may be controlled using control lines of rope or cable wrapped about a drum, in conjunction with motors, winches, and/or other mechanisms. When the foil is rotated one way, the sail may be deployed (unfurled), and when the foil is rotated the other way, the sail may be stowed (furled).
While the pliable fabric of a sail may be readily wound about a foil, the rigid material of a batten is not so accommodating. Solutions that address this difficulty have been proposed. For example, pneumatically inflatable battens have been proposed, where a bladder shaped like a batten and attached to a sail is inflated to high-pressure. As a significant disadvantage, these inflatable battens do not achieve the same rigidity as battens formed of wood, fiberglass, plastic, carbon fibers, or other rigid materials. Further, the bulk and complexity of a pneumatic system is ill suited to sails, which undergo substantial, and frequently changing stresses and strains. Another proposed system for a self-furling sail with battens may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,192, to Stevenson, IV, et al. However, as a significant disadvantage, the Stevenson system does not operate with popular roller furling systems.
There remains a need for a batten suitable for use with a roller furling system.
The invention is a rigid supporting member that changes position within a pocket of sheet material to accommodate a deployed position and a stowed position, as may be used, for example, with battens in roller furling sails. The member is placed within the pocket formed within sheets of a pliable material, or attached to the pliable material, and the member is movably secured within the pocket, such as with a pivoting fixture. The member may be rotated into a first position that supports a shape of the pliable material when the pliable material is deployed, and a second position that accommodates stowage of the pliable material through folding, rolling, or the like. A variety of control systems may be used to control rotation or other movement of the member, and to control deployment and stowage of the pliable material.
An apparatus as described herein may include a sail, a batten, a pocket, and a control system. The batten may be secured to the sail by a pivot. The pocket may surround the batten and be affixed to the sail. The control system may control a rotation of the batten about the pivot.
The apparatus may further include a plurality of battens, each batten having a controllable rotational orientation. The control system may control a rotation of the batten between a furled position and an unfurled position. The control system may include one or more control lines, each control line affixed to the batten and operable to rotate the batten toward at least one of a furled position and an unfurled position. The control system may include at least one spring, the spring affixed to the batten and applying a torque to the batten toward at least one of a furled position and an unfurled position. The control system may include an actuator that controls a rotational orientation of the batten. The actuator may include at least one of a step motor, a servo, a pneumatic device, or a hydraulic device. The actuator may be controlled through a wireless interface.
The pocket may include a lining of at least one of a chafe-resistant or a friction-reducing material. The apparatus may include a roller furling system. The apparatus may include a switch, the switch being activated by a user to rotate the batten between a furled position and an unfurled position. The pivot may be located at an end of the batten, the end of the batten being on at least one of a luff-side of the sail or a leech-side of the sail. The pivot may be located at a center of the batten.
A system for furling sails as described herein may include a rotating means for rotatably securing a batten to a sail; a control means for controlling a rotational orientation of the batten between a furled position and an unfurled position. The system may further include a furling means for furling the sail.
An apparatus as described herein may include a sail; a batten; a pocket affixed to a sail, the batten movably secured within the pocket and the pocket shaped to accommodate a range of motion by the batten that includes a first position for furling the sail and a second position for setting the sail; and a control system that controls movement of the batten between the first position and the second position. The apparatus may include a plurality of battens, each batten having a controllable position. The first position may be a furled position and the second position may be an unfurled position. The control system may further include one or more control lines, each control line affixed to the batten and operable to move the batten toward at least one of a furled position and an unfurled position. The pocket may include a lining of at least one of a chafe-resistant or a friction-reducing material. The apparatus may include a roller furling system.
An apparatus as described herein may include a batten; a pivot attached to the batten; a pocket surrounding the batten; and a fastener securing a control line to the batten and positioned so that a force applied to the control line will rotate the batten about the pivot.
In another embodiment, an apparatus as described herein may include a pliable sheet of material; a rigid member secured to the pliable sheet of material by a pivot; a pocket surrounding the rigid member and affixed to the pliable sheet of material; and a control system that controls a rotation of the rigid member about the pivot.